Let's Get Political!

[horlock07]

Actually they're not.  Parliament is sovereign exercising power on behalf of the head of state...in our unwritten constitution it can be argued that a referendum is only advisory. Should it be a very close vote either way, Parliament can finesse the decision as it sees fit.

But isn't this all a vote for our sovereignty anyway as we have had it taken away, that's what Brexit keep saying?

[Reg Smeeton]

But isn't this all a vote for our sovereignty anyway as we have had it taken away, that's what Brexit keep saying?

No, we gave it away, or as some might say pooled it, similarly Parliament can take it back.

[AldbourneRed]

I always think a good idea when you're confused is to listen to people who are more qualified to judge than you are. In this case virtually everyone with any economic nous is with Remain. Among major figures, only businessmen with a professional stake in less regulation or politicians with a personal agenda seem to be for Brexit.

Don't get this one wrong - the stakes are vastly higher than a general election.

There's quite a few things on this going round Facebook at the moment, exaggerated to make the author's point but you get the gist:

If you don't have the time/inclination to find out all the facts about the EU referendum (I don't blame you) and are possibly unsure which way to vote, perhaps knowing how other notable people are thinking could help out.

Here are a few that strongly believe the UK should remain a member of the EU:

• Governor of the Bank of England
• International Monetary Fund
• Institute for Fiscal Studies
• Confederation of British Industry
• Leaders/heads of state of every single other member of the EU
• President of the United States of America
• Eight former US Treasury Secretaries
• President of China
• Prime Minister of India
• Prime Minister of Canada
• Prime Minister of Australia
• Prime Minister of Japan
• Prime Minister of New Zealand
• The chief executives of most of the top 100 companies in the UK including Marks and Spencer, BT, Asda, Vodafone, Virgin, IBM, BMW etc.
• Kofi Annan, the former Secretary General of the United Nations
• All living former Prime Ministers of the UK (from both parties)
• Virtually all reputable and recognised economists
• The Prime Minister of the UK
• The leader of the Labour Party
• The Leader of the Liberal Democrats
• The Leader of the Green Party
• The Leader of the Scottish National Party
• The leader of Plaid Cymru
• Leader of Sinn Fein
• Martin Lewis, that money saving dude off the telly
• The Secretary General of the TUC
• Unison
• National Union of Students
• National Union of Farmers
• Stephen Hawking
• Chief Executive of the NHS
• 300 of the most prominent international historians
• Director of Europol
• David Anderson QC, Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation
• Former Directors of GCHQ
• Secretary General of Nato
• Church of England
• Church in Scotland
• Church in Wales
• Friends of the Earth
• Greenpeace
• Director General of the World Trade Organisation
• WWF
• World Bank
• OECD

Here are pretty much the only notable people who think we should leave the EU:

• Boris Johnson, who probably doesn’t really care either way, but knows he’ll become Prime Minister if the country votes to leave
• A former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions who carried out a brutal regime of cuts to benefits and essential support for the poorest in society as well as the disabled and sick
• That idiot that was Education Secretary and every single teacher in the country hated with a furious passion for the damage he was doing to the education system
• Leader of UKIP
• BNP
• Britain First
• Donald Trump
• Keith Chegwin
• David Icke

If you can’t be bothered to look into the real facts and implications of all this in/out stuff, just pick the list that you most trust and vote that way.

[suttonred]

They forgot Putin on the leave list.

[Nemo]

And Murdoch

[Nick Bamosomi]

And Joey Essex - if that doesn't help you make up your mind......

[4D]

Can somebody state what will go wrong if we leave? Thx.

[horlock07]

And Murdock

What from the A Team.....

on that theme we have

Murdoch the Australian American who has admitted he only wants to leave as Westminster does his bidding and Brussels wont!
Dirty Desmond - lives abroad pays no tax and is obsessed by house prices, Diana and mortgages (not sure how he will square it if we go and house prices collapse).
Rothermere - lives abroad paper registered abroad pays no tax!
Barclay Brothers - wanted to avoid tax so much they bought an island.....

There is definitely a theme here?

[Reg Smeeton]

Can somebody state what will go wrong if we leave? Thx.

Well Donald Tusk thinks it will be the beginning of the end of Western civilisation. So not much 

[Samdy Gray]

Can somebody state what will go wrong if we leave? Thx.

Nobody knows exactly what will happen, that's the scary thing. If the Leave campaign actually had a solid plan for how the exit would happen I might be more inclined to lean that way.

In the short term, Sterling will weaken. If you listen to Farage he says that's a good thing because it makes our exports competitive, but as an island nation that has to import a whole lot of basic goods and materials it's likely to be bad news for Joe Public. Uncertainty will linger until someone actually comes up with a plan. Investment markets will be volatile which Joe Public probably don't care about, but they should do. Big businesses will leave the UK. GDP will take a hit and we'll probably head back into recession. People will lose their jobs. We'll have even more austerity. The Tories can pass all sorts of corporate, tax and labour law through parliament. And Boris Johnson will probably be running the country.

But hey, no more unelected bureaucrats telling us what to do and less Poles stealing your job.

[horlock07]

Nobody knows exactly what will happen, that's the scary thing. If the Leave campaign actually had a solid plan for how the exit would happen I might be more inclined to lean that way.

In the short term, Sterling will weaken. If you listen to Farage he says that's a good thing because it makes our exports competitive, but as an island nation that has to import a whole lot of basic goods and materials it's likely to be bad news for Joe Public. Uncertainty will linger until someone actually comes up with a plan. Investment markets will be volatile which Joe Public probably don't care about, but they should do. Big businesses will leave the UK. GDP will take a hit and we'll probably head back into recession. People will lose their jobs. We'll have even more austerity. The Tories can pass all sorts of corporate, tax and labour law through parliament. And Boris Johnson will probably be running the country.

But hey, no more unelected bureaucrats telling us what to do and less Poles stealing your job.

That made me want to cry and laugh at the same time, can I steal it and put it on Facebook!

[Samdy Gray]

Be my guest.

[Simon Pieman]

Can somebody state what will go wrong if we leave? Thx.

The Conservative Party

[Red Frog]

The Conservative Party

And the "United" Kingdom. If you vote leave, that's finished.

[Batch]

Can somebody state what will go wrong if we leave? Thx.

Probably another recession